THE PRESIDENT'S DAILY BRIEF 29 APRIL 1968

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: President's Daily Brief 1961-1969
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005974405
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: T
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: September 16, 2015
• Document Release Date: September 16, 2015
• Publication Date: April 29, 1968

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The President's Daily Brief
c-ge.L39 April 1968
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DAILY BRIEF
29 APRIL 1968
1. South Vietnam
2. Israel-Jordan
Reports persist, particularly in
the northern provinces, that the Com-
munists are making preparations for a
major offensive during May and June.
A prisoner captured last week in south-
ern I Corps claimed that another regi-
ment was being formed there by the
consolidation of local force battalions.
Similar mergers were noted in this area
prior to Tet.
Abba Eban still believes there is
a slim possibility that Jordan will
agree to move unilaterally toward nego-
tiations.
Eban's hopes, we think, are exag-
gerated. The political dangers for
Husayn if he did agree to negotiate
will probably persuade him to decline.
Eban undoubtedly realizes that
time is running out for him and the
other Israeli moderates who are anxious
for some sort of diplomatic settlement
with the Arabs. The Israeli "hawks"
under Moshe Dayan are becoming more and
more restive in the absence of any
movement on the diplomatic front.
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3. Thailand
4. France
Insurgents recently overran a bor-
der security post in the north, killed
15 government defenders, and captured
weapons and communications equipment.
This is the most successful attack the
Communist insurgents have mounted in
Thailand to date.
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FOR THE PRESIDENT'S EYES ONLY
Top Secret
?
.) Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
2.) North Vietnamese Reflections of U S
Political Attitudes
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-29 April 1968
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Special Daily Report on North Vietnam
for the President's Eyes Only
29 April 1968
I. NOTES ON THE SITUATION
Hanoi on Site for Contacts:
North Vietnam is
continuing to press for Warsaw 50X1
as the venue for contacts with the US. It has con-
sistently avoided committing itself irrevocably to
the Polish capital, however.
North Vietnamese officials abroad are pressing
Hanoi's contention that Warsaw is the suitable place
for the initial contact. Phung Man Cung, first sec-
retary of Hanoi's embassy in Budapest, in a 26 April
interview in Vienna claimed that Hanoi was still wait-
ing for a US response to its Warsaw proposal. He
pointed out that the US has had frequent talks with
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the Chinese Communists in Warsaw. But, he implied,
-Hanoi could out-wait the US on the site issue by
saying, "We have time, much time."
Hanoi's propaganda also continues to push for
Warsaw. Its broadcasts on 27 and 28 April took the
line that well-known American public figures, includ-
ing Senators Morse, McCarthy, and Young, have de-
clared that the Polish capital is a suitable place
and that the US has no valid reason to reject it.
The broadcasts ridiculed President Johnson's state-
ments about the US willingness to talk anywhere and
about American desires to move immediately toward
peace.
* * *
Hanoi's Spokesmen in Paris Under Wraps: Unlike
most of Hanoi's spokesmen abroad, the members of the
North Vietnamese delegation in Paris are being particu-
larly cautious these days in their relations with the
press. This apparently is a reaction to recent reve-
lations in the French papers, sourced to Hanoi's dele-
gation, about contacts between Washington and Hanoi.
* * *
Communists Continue to Inflate Claims of Mili-
tary Success: The Vietnamese Communists have capped
several weeks of almost totally unreal propaganda
commentary on the war with one of their most exagger-
ated claims of military success in South Vietnam to
date. In a communiqu?f the Liberation Armed Forces
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which was broadcast by Hanoi on 26 April, they
boasted that during the past 75 days more than 200,000
enemy have been killed, wounded, or captured and that
2,500 aircraft have been destroyed. All this, they
allege, has seriously shaken the military, political,
and economic foundations of the US and "its puppets."
The communiqu?autioned, however, that despite the
favorable military situation, many more difficulties
and hardships lie ahead before victory will be achieved.
These claims may in part be an effort to shore
up popular morale during a period when the prospect of
negotiations with the US may be causing some doubts.
* * *
Liberation Front Endorses "National Alliance":
The Communists are continuing to stress the import-
ance of the newly formed "National Alliance." They
claim that it, in concert with the Liberation Front,
represents a broad united front which will defeat the
US and the "Vietnamese puppets." In statements on
26 and 27 April, the Front endorsed the new alliance
and pledged to cooperate with it. It also promised
to support the alliance's political program--a program
almost identical with its own.
Consolidation of European Medical Assistance for
Hanoi: Medical associations in several West European
TOUrirries have formed a secretariat, headquartered in
,Paris, to coordinate and consolidate their assistance
to North Vietnam
* * *
Ho Votes: In his first appearance since the
first of the year, 77-year-old Ho Chi Minh cast his
vote in a local election at a polling place in Hanoi
on 28 April, according to a Hanoi broadcast, The an-
nouncement stated that Ho "nimbly stepped into the
room and cast his ballot,"
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Ho's appearances have become a rare occurrence
in recent years. In 1967 he was out of view from
March to late August except for an appearance at a
similar election in late April. He also made a
number of appearances in late December and early
January, probably to counter intense rumors at
that time that he was seriously ill,
his age alone would dictate his slowing
down and making fewer appearances.
* * *
?II. NORTH VIETNAMESE REFLECTIONS OF US POLITICAL
ATTITUDES ON THE WAR
Liberation Front Group Appeals for US Support:
The student union of the Liberation Front has sent a
message to American youth and students appealing to
them to "step up their antiwar activities and to de-
mand that the US stop sending more soldiers to Viet-
nam." The message, broadcast by Hanoi's international
service on 27 April, hailed the participation of
American youth in the current ten days of protest
against US policy in Vietnam. It paid high tribute
to the "valiant, just struggle of the American people
for their legitimate rights."
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